Honeymoon - Day 3
The train depot was filled with activity in the morning as people prepared to board. We were lucky enough to run into the Marshall and one of the "Cataract Creek Gang" on the train platform. They graciously posed for a picture before they headed off to their Wild West shootout performance.
We boarded the Max Biegert luxury train car, which was the last car of the train. The car has a long and storied history, and was renovated a few years ago and renamed after Max (of Max and Thelma, the namesake of the restaurant in Williams), the former owner of the Grand Canyon Railway. The observation platform was a bonus on this car, and allowed us to take some great landscape shots as the train rolled along. Our train was pulled by a diesel locomotive, which was expected, but still somewhat of a disappointment given all of the great pictures of this train being pulled by a steam locomotive.
We weren't the only newlyweds on the Max Biegert car. Julie and Dennis got married the same day as us in Dallas. They were taking the term "road trip" to the maximum -- they had already driven 1100 miles on their honeymoon when we caught up with them.
Our Grand Canyon Railway car attendant, Carol, made us comfortable with excellent service and entertaining stories. Entertainment was also provided by Barry the fiddle player. After playing a few songs, Barry asked for a volunteer to assist. Kate wasn't bashful to offer my services.
The train ride to the canyon seemed to fly by. Before we knew it, we were pulling into the Grand Canyon Rail Depot. We bid Carol a fond farewell and dropped my backpack at the depot so we wouldn't have to lug it around the canyon. We boarded a Harveycar (bus) for the "Freedom" rim tour, which was also included in our package. Our guide, Eric, was entertaining and informative. We stopped at three viewing points, all of which offered spectacular views of the canyon.
After the tour we stopped back at the train depot to pick up our boxed lunches, which were also included in the Freedom tour package. It was a plain but passable turkey sandwich on a hamburger roll. We sat ourselves on seats on the porch of the swanky El Tovar hotel and enjoyed the view while chowing down.
We made our way to the Maswik lodge where we got the key for our room. The Maswik complex is large, and our room was in an out-building at the far end in the Mesquite building. We really didn't know what to expect when we opened the door, and were greeted with a pleasant surprise when the room was really very nice considering the surroundings. It was a plain room with a layout almost identical to the room we had at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. Most importantly, it was clean. The bathroom and vanity area looked brand new. An added bonus was that the one small suitcase we had checked at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel was waiting for us at our Maswik Lodge room. Talk about service!
After getting settled in our guest room, our next priority was figuring out the logistics of seeing the sunset at the Canyon rim. The free shuttles made it easy to reach a beautiful vista in time for the sunset. With a full moon rising and a beautiful sunset, it made for some gorgeous pictures.
Following the sunset, we made our way back to Maswik Lodge for dinner. We had originally booked a reservation at El Tovar, but we decided that our 8:45pm reservation would be too late. After all, our bodies would think it was nearly midnight, which is a bit too late for a late meal. So, instead of El Tovar we enjoyed comfort food at the cafeteria at Maswik Lodge. The wide array of food choices made it tough to decide. Kate ended up with a nice looking plate of pasta and meatballs. I had a hot turkey platter and mashed potatoes. Towards the end of our meal, a nice British couple joined our table. We all shared great conversation for about an hour covering a wide array of topics including the oppression of the Native American population, which is apparently not discussed much outside of the US.
We headed to bed at a reasonable hour in anticipation of getting up the next morning to see the sunrise.
We boarded the Max Biegert luxury train car, which was the last car of the train. The car has a long and storied history, and was renovated a few years ago and renamed after Max (of Max and Thelma, the namesake of the restaurant in Williams), the former owner of the Grand Canyon Railway. The observation platform was a bonus on this car, and allowed us to take some great landscape shots as the train rolled along. Our train was pulled by a diesel locomotive, which was expected, but still somewhat of a disappointment given all of the great pictures of this train being pulled by a steam locomotive.
We weren't the only newlyweds on the Max Biegert car. Julie and Dennis got married the same day as us in Dallas. They were taking the term "road trip" to the maximum -- they had already driven 1100 miles on their honeymoon when we caught up with them.
Our Grand Canyon Railway car attendant, Carol, made us comfortable with excellent service and entertaining stories. Entertainment was also provided by Barry the fiddle player. After playing a few songs, Barry asked for a volunteer to assist. Kate wasn't bashful to offer my services.
The train ride to the canyon seemed to fly by. Before we knew it, we were pulling into the Grand Canyon Rail Depot. We bid Carol a fond farewell and dropped my backpack at the depot so we wouldn't have to lug it around the canyon. We boarded a Harveycar (bus) for the "Freedom" rim tour, which was also included in our package. Our guide, Eric, was entertaining and informative. We stopped at three viewing points, all of which offered spectacular views of the canyon.
After the tour we stopped back at the train depot to pick up our boxed lunches, which were also included in the Freedom tour package. It was a plain but passable turkey sandwich on a hamburger roll. We sat ourselves on seats on the porch of the swanky El Tovar hotel and enjoyed the view while chowing down.
We made our way to the Maswik lodge where we got the key for our room. The Maswik complex is large, and our room was in an out-building at the far end in the Mesquite building. We really didn't know what to expect when we opened the door, and were greeted with a pleasant surprise when the room was really very nice considering the surroundings. It was a plain room with a layout almost identical to the room we had at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. Most importantly, it was clean. The bathroom and vanity area looked brand new. An added bonus was that the one small suitcase we had checked at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel was waiting for us at our Maswik Lodge room. Talk about service!
After getting settled in our guest room, our next priority was figuring out the logistics of seeing the sunset at the Canyon rim. The free shuttles made it easy to reach a beautiful vista in time for the sunset. With a full moon rising and a beautiful sunset, it made for some gorgeous pictures.
Following the sunset, we made our way back to Maswik Lodge for dinner. We had originally booked a reservation at El Tovar, but we decided that our 8:45pm reservation would be too late. After all, our bodies would think it was nearly midnight, which is a bit too late for a late meal. So, instead of El Tovar we enjoyed comfort food at the cafeteria at Maswik Lodge. The wide array of food choices made it tough to decide. Kate ended up with a nice looking plate of pasta and meatballs. I had a hot turkey platter and mashed potatoes. Towards the end of our meal, a nice British couple joined our table. We all shared great conversation for about an hour covering a wide array of topics including the oppression of the Native American population, which is apparently not discussed much outside of the US.
We headed to bed at a reasonable hour in anticipation of getting up the next morning to see the sunrise.
Labels: wedding
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